CHEN ZHIDA, 34

Associate director at Helmsman LLC

Instead of going to a junior college after his O levels – the well-trodden path of many local lawyers, Zhida enrolled at Temasek Polytechnic where he earned a Diploma in Law and Management (with a GPA of 3.85). He then went on to the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he graduated with firstclass honours.

Thus, it is hardly surprising that Zhida, who also has a Masters of Law in International Legal Studies from New York University, takes the education of young lawyers seriously. At NUS, the adjunct assistant professor teaches two modules, one of which he designed from scratch for nearly a year. Launched in 2020, the intent of Zhida’s industry-focused “International Commodity Trading Law Clinic” module (likely the first of its kind in Singapore) is to train students to identify, analyse and solve legal problems commonly faced by the commodity trading industry and to arm them with legal principles and practical skills, through studying real-life legal problems.

Helmsman LLC, a specialist in shipping and commodity trading law where Zhida is a founding member, is listed as one of Singapore’s Best Law Firms in 2021 by a local newspaper. Under his watch, the firm has started to develop capabilities in its practice to meet new trends such as clean energy, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.

In his practice in international commodity trade, trade finance and “dry” shipping work, Zhida is a litigator, and also counsel in many high-profile international arbitrations. His work has not gone unnoticed by legal industry research publications. He was recently named “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation Asia-pacific, and Rising Star by Expert Guides – just to name a few 2021 accolades.